


Who Do You Love?

by mariabutnothill



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Actor!Dean, DeanCas - Freeform, Destiel - Freeform, F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt Dean Winchester, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Jack Kline, Kid Kevin Tran, M/M, domestic deancas, teacher!Cas
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:09:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27693235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariabutnothill/pseuds/mariabutnothill
Summary: Dean wasn't ready to see his son going to elementary school so soon. Of course, that would help him manage his time between rehearsals and shows better, but still, it wasn't something he was ready to see.Cas never thought he could learn new things at that point in his life, much less how to truly love.Thankfully for each other, Dean's son can see things better than the rest. Including how much these two deserve to be happy.
Relationships: Castiel & Dean Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester, Charlie Bradbury/Meg Masters, DeanCas, Destiel, Eileen Leahy & Sam Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester
Kudos: 21





	1. Hello.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, hello!  
> Promised this one on a twitter groupchat after I made THAT angsty one-shot.  
> Okay, I love the Broadway actor trope and the teacher trope, so I decided to combine them in one cool fic. Yes, there's gonna be some angst and hurt here, but overall it's a happy, funny fic.  
> As for smut... idk, never written it and I don't see this fic going that way.  
> Also, the title comes from the song 'Who do you love' by Mariana's Trench.  
> Enjoy!

Dean groans, his back complaining as he sits up. He shouldn’t be doing that now, staying up so late for whatever reason, he just can’t afford to do it now.

He feels tiny little paws on his back and he reaches back to let the dog lick his hand.

“We have one hell of a day, don’t we?” he asks. The dog gets off the bed and runs outside of his room, probably on its way to wake the kid up. He smiles and stands up, stretching his arms, hearing the air bubbles pop up before making his way to the bathroom.

Dean isn’t a morning person, but this specific day is worth getting up at six am. He plays some music as he showers, singing softly so he doesn’t wake up his child, and then makes his way back to his bedroom where Sam waits for him.

“Morning.” His brother greets, his shirt wet with sweat and his hair flat on his head. “I’m headed back to Kansas today, hope that’s not much of a problem.” Dean nods and takes a pair of boxers to put on so he can ditch the towel.

“It’s okay. Thank you for staying the whole week, I’m sure Eileen will rip apart my head when we meet again.” Sam lets out a light laugh and stands up. “Are you staying for breakfast?” Dean asks, buttoning his jeans.

“Actually, I am, want to wish the little man luck.” Dean smiles as he slides his black t-shirt over his head, glancing at the clock on his bedside. It’s only six-thirty, he has time to prepare the most awesome breakfast a kid could want.

“Let’s go then, if I don’t have dinosaur pancakes when he wakes up, Troy will burn.” Sam snorts at his brother but follows him to the kitchen anyway.

New York is extremely different from Kansas, the place where they grew up, but Dean doesn’t seem to mind. Even when they were kids, he knew that his brother would grow up to be a famous person.

And now, years later, Dean goes out every night to act his heart out in front of a live audience that usually ends up in awe and completely delighted with his work, and that makes it oh so worth it.

As Sam takes out bacon and eggs, Dean prepares the pancake batter, their mother’s recipe burned in his mind, whistling a melody.

By the time they finish up, it’s seven o’clock already.

“Okay, what if you plate all this and I wake up the beast, huh?” Sam nods and Dean goes upstairs, stopping at the door with dinosaur stickers on it.

He really had been a surprise. His mother was an old friend who helped him during try-outs, and he never expected to see her again after that.

Six years later, he still can’t believe his luck. Of course, being a single parent wasn’t ideal, but with Sam’s help —and later his girlfriend, Eileen, too—he managed to get through the rough first two years and launch his acting career in Broadway.

He knocks softly and opens the door, entering the navy and green room filled with dinosaurs and zombies. Dean chuckles, he’s never allowing him to watch another zombie film, and makes his way to the bed.

“Hey there, Jackie.” He moves his kid slowly, trying not to be too harsh. “Today is your first day of school. Aren’t you excited?” that’s enough to wake up the kid, who now looks as if he’s been drinking energy drinks for a week. He begins jumping and Dean has to suppress a laugh, instead putting a serious face. “Jack, what do we say first thing in the morning?” he asks, stopping the kid.

“Good morning daddy.” He kisses Dean’s cheek and keeps on jumping.

“That’s right. Good morning, champ.” Jack gets off the bed and runs to the bathroom. Dean looks around the bedroom, his eyes landing on the desk by the window where Jack put his backpack and clothes for the day. The day they bought his school supplies Dean thought the kid would have a heart attack with how excited he was.

His backpack is blue —his favorite color, as a matter of fact, because his eyes were blue, and it has the silhouette of a tyrannosaurus painted at the front.

His clothes are carefully folded, just like Dean left them the night before.

Jack comes back and looks at Dean expectantly.

“Alright, let’s get you changed.” Before he even takes the clothes Jack has gotten rid of his pajama shirt, too excited to wait for his father. “Woah, slow down.” He laughs and slides the green shirt on his tiny torso; jeans and sneakers finish the look the kid chose five days prior. “Now let’s get that bed hair out.” Jack groans, but he’s too happy to say something about his blonde hair getting combed.

Once he’s ready, he tugs Dean’s hand, hurrying him to get to the kitchen.

“Uncle Sam!” he runs to the man and hugs his legs. Sam laughs softly and pats his back.

“Would you look at yourself! You’re a grown kid now!” he takes the kid on his hands and twirls him around before taking him to the sink and washing his hands. Dean serves himself a cup of coffee and another for Sam, and then takes out a jug of apple juice to serve a glass for Jack.

They eat breakfast while Jack babbles about how much he wants to meet other kids and play with them.

Finally, once he drinks the last drop of apple juice —Dean reminds himself to buy more— he jumps off his chair and runs upstairs, possibly towards his bathroom to brush his teeth. Just as Dean is about to get up, Sam raises a hand and grabs his plate and his empty mug.

“I’ll help him, I don’t know when I’m coming back. You finish your breakfast.” Dean doesn’t say it, but he’s so damn grateful for him doing that. When was the last time he completely ate something because Jack wasn’t hurrying him up?

Don’t get him wrong, he loves Jack with every piece of his heart and soul, but he misses the things he could do when Jack wasn’t in his life yet.

He finishes his coffee and stands up to leave it on the sink, he’ll do the dishes once he comes back. He rushes upstairs to brush his teeth, smiling when he hears Sam talking to Jack about something.

As he takes his things, he sees Sam pass by with his duffel bag, and that has Dean’s heart sinking. He really hopes Sam can get a job in a bigger city, be a widely know lawyer the way he always wanted to be.

He closes his bedroom door behind him and goes downstairs once he makes sure Miracle is not inside any of their rooms, hearing Jack’s babbling in the living room.

“Alright, let’s get you to school!” Dean said, trying to mark the knot on his throat and the tears burning his eyes. His little man is growing up, wow. It only seemed like yesterday when he was 22 and Kelly showed up at his door looking just about ready to pop, crying.

Jack jumps his way to the car as Dean closes the door. Sam takes the shotgun seat while his brother secures Jack on the backseat.

It’s only twelve minutes from the rather quiet neighborhood to the elementary school. Sam chuckles when he sees his brother trying to keep himself from crying, but he can’t blame him, he’s also about to tear up. Had it really been six years since he called him crying in the middle of the night because Kelly was about to give birth and he didn’t know what to do?

Once he parks, Dean gets off the car, and Sam does the same.

“Will you come?” Dean asks. Sam shakes his head while wrinkling his nose.

“Dude, I’ve had enough misunderstandings for a lifetime.” Dean cracks a laugh, remembering all those times they got confused with a couple, and Sam turns to Jack. “Hey bud, you be good, okay? I have to go back with aunt Eileen.” Jack nods and hugs him tightly. Sam leaves a kiss on the top of his head and grabs him by the shoulders. “Now go enjoy your first day. I’ll call when I can so you can tell me everything, we clear? Now give me those five.” Jack high-fives him and takes Dean’s hand.

“Tell aunt Eileen I love her!” he waves his hand and begins walking by Dean’s side.

They cross the street and get in the line so they can get inside. Once he and Jack greet the young lady receiving them —a trait Sam made sure stuck with him— they make their way to the first-grade classroom.

And Dean stops dead on his tracks when he sees a man wearing a blue sweater with stupidly blue eyes greeting both the kids and their parents. He’s wearing an equally blue tie, black jeans that are probably too tight, and polished black shoes, and his eyes stop on Dean once he’s done greeting the mother of a girl.

It feels like they’re doing so in slow motion, which is pretty stupid, but Dean can’t help it.

“Hello!” Jack greets, his hand shooting up, his favorite way of greeting people he likes, and smiles at the man, showing his missing tooth.

“Hey there, young man! I’m Mr. Novak.” Jack stretches his hand and waits for the man to take it. He looks kinda lost at first but shakes it anyway.

“I’m Jack!” he replies, letting Mr. Novak’s hand go after a rather enthusiastic handshake.

“He’s very polite.” Dean chuckles. “I’m Dean Winchester.” The teacher raises a brow, probably recognizing him, and offers his hand.

“I can see it. Castiel Novak.” Dean shakes his hand and turns to Jack, kneeling beside him.

“Okay, you be good, don’t yell, don’t fight, and if someone attacks you, what do we do?” he asks, raising a brow.

“I defend myself and my friends!” he yells. Dean nods in awe, he can’t believe his son is already going to school.

“Alright, come here.” Jack hugs him tightly and kisses Dean’s cheek. Dean kisses the top of his head and sighs. “I’m proud of you. Go have fun.” Jack nods and runs inside, trying to find the desk with his name on it. Dean tries to swallow the tears, but a single one escapes.

“Don’t worry, he’s in good hands.” Castiel places a hand on his shoulder and smiles. “I can see he’s brilliant.” Dean nods with a smile, feeling pride filling his chest.

“He is.” He turns around and offers his hand once again. “If anything happens…”

“I’ll call you, Mr. Winchester. I’ve done this job for eight years now, I find no problem in that.” He takes Dean’s hand again. “I’ll see you at the end of the day.”

Dean walks out of the school, his head feeling light after the conversation with his son’s teacher.

Sam chuckles all the way to the airport, already knowing that someone caught his brother’s eye,

“So, who was them?” Sam finally asks, both of them making their way through the place. Dean groans and shakes his head.

“No one, man.” Too soon, too soon.

“Don’t believe you. Was it a single mom?” Dean shakes his head again, not wanting to have this conversation.

“It’s no one.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to ask Jack who this no one is.” Dean groans again and punches him on the shoulder.

“Bitch.” Sam smiles widely. His flight gets announced.

“Jerk.” He brings Dean in for a hug and pats his back. “Take care of both of you.”

“Take care of yourself,” Dean pulls back, “and if something happens to Eileen, Sam, I swear to everything that’s holy…”

“She’ll be okay, no need to kill me, she’s independent.” Sam raises both hands to prove his innocence. Dean nods and Sam returns the gesture, quickly turning around to go through security.

The rest of the morning goes by in a blur as he arrives at New 42nd Street Studios to rehearse for his new musical, greeting everyone as he did.

“Dean! Come over here!” calls Charlie, an overly enthusiastic redhead who has become his best friend in the industry ever since they met three years prior during a tryout. He greets her with a kiss on the cheek and checks the script. “Let’s rehearse it one more time.” Dean nods and Charlie begins acting.

As the minutes pass, Dean’s mind drifts back to Jack —what could his little boy be doing? Was he having fun? Had he made new friends already?— but he snaps back into reality when they’re called to their places.

Is this Castiel a good teacher? He looks pretty professional, and Jack seemed to like him right away.

He shoves unprofessional thoughts to the back of his mind, he’s Jack’s teacher and nothing else.

One o’clock hits and he’s waving his hand at Charlie, making his way back to his car. He doesn’t have to worry about making food for them since he promised Jack to take him to wherever he wanted after his first day.

He huffs with happiness when classic rock fills the car, Sam wouldn’t let him play it, and begins driving, he still has an hour and thirty minutes or so before he can go get Jack.

As much as he tries, he can’t stop the memory he’s hit with, driving around New York with Kelly as shotgun, singing along to Kansas, and then moving to the backseat. Seven months later, her fragile frame showed up at the door, her face filled with tears, her stomach round and looking even bigger with her low weight.

After explaining everything and telling him she was scared and feeling the contractions, Dean let her take the bed so she could sleep. He called Sam immediately, not being able to stop the tears coming from his eyes, he was about to become a father, for God’s sake.

Sam arrived six hours later, just as Dean and Kelly were making their way to the hospital.

He stops, why is he doing this to himself?

His knuckles turn white as he begins driving again.

His phone vibrates in his pocket and he takes it out with one hand. He knows he shouldn’t be doing it, so he just keeps it in his hand and waits for another red light so he can check it.

Once he does, he finds new emails, and he has to keep himself from banging his head against the wheel. The first day isn’t even over yet and the association is already contacting him, great. It’s not even one thirty yet.

He promises himself he will check the emails once he’s safe at home so he can be updated on every activity he needs to do. Even if he hates associations and all that shit, he has to do it because if he dares to miss a fair, Jack will burn the kitchen and Sam with him.

He smiles, Jack absolutely loves his uncle, his only uncle. And aunt Eileen, God, how does he dare to forget Eileen?

They met when Dean went back to Lawrence for a few months after Jack was born. They were at the park, Dean trying to feed his son while Sam laughed at his failed attempts. Eileen came to them after a ball rolled to Dean’s feet. She said hi to Jack and made the train so Jack could open his mouth and eat the baby food.

Then, she commented on how her dog is about to give birth and if they would like a dog, and Sam immediately said yes without even looking at Dean. His poor brother was head over heels in an instant. After learning that she is deaf, Sam spent day and night perfecting his signing, encouraging Dean to do the same and to teach Jack how to do so when he could.

Dean smiles once again as he parks home.

He runs upstairs to take a quick shower and change his sweaty clothes, going with black jeans, a grey t-shirt, and a dark green jacket. His boots, the same boots Sam gifted him as a Father’s Day once, and the amulet he got from his father. Maybe, one day, he will give it to Jack, maybe.

He runs downstairs since Jack is not there to complain about how his father can run and he can’t, and rushes back to the car, making sure to grab everything he needs.

Another twelve minutes, and he’s there exactly at two-thirty. It’s still early, so he takes out his phone and —finally— reads the emails. It’s all boring, but then one catches his eyes. It’s from Mr. Novak.

_Dear Dean Winchester:_

_Below, I leave numerous ways of reaching me in case you need it. You can ask me anything regarding your child through them._

_I also leave a calendar of activities that I, alongside the rest of the teachers, have carefully planned for the rest of the semester. Feel free to ask about details._

_Best wishes,_

_Castiel Novak._

Why is his heart beating so damn fast? It’s a generated text.

He keeps on reading —a family fair in October, a Halloween festival, a camping trip in September, more boring shit, a Christmas festival—, and saves Castiel’s number.

Fifteen more minutes until his son is done with his first day of school, so he decides to get out of the car and walk over to the front yard of the school where other parents are waiting. He stands next to a man wearing a peculiar hat.

“Is your kid’s first day?” he asks, and Dean nods, smiling nervously. How the hell does he know. “I feel the same. Benny.”

“Dean.” They shake hands and begin an easy chat. His daughter, Elizabeth, is also on her first day of school.

The bell rings, and Dean’s hands begin to sweat. Jack’s class is the first one to come out. A girl with brown hair tied up in a ponytail, wearing a pale-yellow dress, runs towards Benny. He twirls her around and kisses her cheek.

“Lizzy, this is Dean. What do we say?” she waves her hand enthusiastically and smiles.

“Hi, Dean! I’m Lizzy!” she exclaims.

“Hey there! How old are you?” she raises a full hand and a finger. Dean gasps exaggeratedly. “Wow! You’re a grown-up!” he smiles at the kid and turns to see Jack getting out of the classroom completely calm, which means he’s last. Dean says goodbye to Benny and walks over at his son, whose hands and laced together. Dean smiles, he got that from Kelly.

Once he sees his father, though, he gasps and runs towards him. Dean crouches and opens his arms to receive his son’s hug. Once he’s hit with the force of the toddler, he stands up as Jack scrambles around to rest on his hip.

“Thank you for taking care of him.” He says, offering his hand at Castiel, who has now lost the sweater and is wearing a simple white button-up. He looks even better now.

“Look what I won, daddy!” he points at his forehead, where a golden star is glued.

“Really? That’s amazing!”

Castiel waves it off and smiles at Jack. “He’s a very smart child, he helped one of his classmates with her homework and answered correctly the questions I asked him.”

“And I can sign!” he exclaims, signing the words that leave his mouth. Dean raises a brow and turns at Castiel with genuine curiosity.

“We have a child with selective mutism, his name is Kevin. He’s really smart, too, and Jack helped him all day long.”

“Daddy!” Dean turns to Jack. “Can we bring Mr. Novak to eat burgers with us!?” And Dean can’t say no to that face. So, he turns to Castiel, smiles awkwardly, and asks if he wants to go with them.


	2. Novak luck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this chapter has content warnings for:  
> —Bullying  
> —Drugs
> 
> Look out for the paragraph after Dean talks about how he landed his actual job.
> 
> Also! This chapter contains many, many references to the Broadway musical "Jersey Boys", the rock n' roll band "The Four Seasons" and its members.

The first day is always awful. He is a morning person, he loves mornings, but waking up and doing something productive is… different.

Still, he needs his coffee, so he smiles at his roommate as she puts a cup of coffee in front of him. She rolls her eyes playfully and shoves a bacon strip on her mouth.

“Remember, I’ll go with Charlie.” She says, and Cas has to stop himself from snorting so he doesn’t get punched.

“I’m not a child, Meg. I remember everything you told me last week.” She smiles smugly at him and brings her own coffee to her red lips. Ever since they met in high school, they sort of became friends, their friendship solidifying once they realized they both needed a house near the school district.

Now, Cas prepares to go back to school, this time teaching first grade, and he has the comfort of having Meg working a building away at high school.

He mentally goes through the things he has planned: first, he’ll introduce himself, tell the kids some things about him; then, they’ll introduce themselves; they will go through the classroom’s rules, and ask if anyone knows the vocals. After their first recess, he’ll ask them to write their names and help them; if they have more time, he’ll do something else. Kids don’t write fast.

“So, I think I’ll be going now, I want to make sure everything’s there.” Meg rolls her eyes playfully and leaves her mug at the sink.

“Fine. See you there, Clarence.” Cas groans at the nickname but smiles anyway when Meg bends down and presses a kiss on his forehead, painting her red lips on it. She runs upstairs to do whatever Meg does —after years, he has learned to don’t ask what she’s doing or _why_ , he’s just accepted everything she shows him or does to him—, so he just finishes his coffee in peace and leaves the mug next to Meg’s before running upstairs to brush his teeth and grab his things.

“Later, honeybee!” he calls.

“Later, angel!” he sees her head pop up from her bedroom before he heads downstairs to get out.

And because he carries the Novak luck, of course, it doesn’t turn on.

See, ever since he was a kid, ever since he was adopted by the Novak family, that kind of luck followed him. It now also followed his little sister, Claire, but it was more prominent on him.

He huffs and opens the door again, he won’t even bother to pretend that he actually _knows_ everything the car has, so he takes his things out and closes the door of the car before heading back inside.

“Novak luck?” Meg calls, smirking from the living room. She’s wearing black jeans, her high-heeled grey ankle boots, and a black blouse.

“I’ll drive.” He raises his hand and catches the keys as Meg snorts.

“You’re on it.” She pushes him slightly so she can close the door and Cas makes his way to Meg’s car.

The drive is not that long, not for him anyway, twenty-five minutes in the early morning traffic of Manhattan, the soft noise of the radio filling their comfortable silence.

He parks at the high school and gets out of the car.

“Thank you so much, Meg, I love you for this.” He says, giving her the car keys. Meg smirks and brings him closer, wrapping her arms around him.

“That’s the only hug you’ll get from me until your birthday… or Christmas.”

“You’re soft on the inside and I know it.”

“Shut the fuck up, not here.” Cas laughs softly and presses a kiss to her forehead before rubbing her arm. “They’ll think we’re a couple, get away.”

“You’ll love to be with me.” She pretends to gag, making him chuckle. She was so far gone with the actress she wouldn’t even try anything with Cas.

Cas waves his hand and walks towards the elementary school building not far away from there. It’s nice, the air of late summer hitting his face, filling his nose with the familiar smell of rain, which was predicted for Wednesday.

He smiles as he passes the flowers, finding bees. He remembers Meg freaking out over his bee-hive when they moved together and him trying to calm her down, only achieving this after he took her out to a bar and promised to keep his bees away from her.

He reaches the building and goes to the principal’s office, where another teacher is already signing in.

“Oh, hello there, I don’t think we have met yet,” he reaches out and Cas shakes his hand. “Balthazar, fifth grade.”

“Castiel, first grade.” The other teacher smiles warmly and gives him the pen before he waves goodbye and leaves.

Cas checks in and looks outside, the gates are beginning to get filled with toddlers and parents. He rushes to his classroom, finding it exactly as he left it two days before, and takes out a small notebook.

It’s kinda funny, he’s been doing this for eight years and it still feels like the first time he got inside a classroom when he was twenty-two. Making a checklist is something he picked up from his student days, and it helps him remember everything he needs to.

He checks everything as he sees it —golden stars, pencils, crayons, candy— and once he’s done, he puts the notebook back inside his bag.

It’s all ready for the kids to come, and Cas feels his lips curve up in a genuine smile. Teaching kids the basics was one of his favorite things to do.

His phone vibrates and he takes it out, finding a new message on the teacher’s group chat.

**Principal J. Mills**

_All teachers, the gates are about to be opened. Please, step outside of your classrooms to greet your students and their parents. Thanks._

Cas takes a deep breath. He can do this.

He opens the door and steps outside as the front gates are opened and excited kids enter the place.

The first kid to come is Elizabeth Laffite, the daughter of recognized chef Benny Laffite, who only tears up a little before hugging her had tightly.

Then comes Kevin Tran, who is selectively mute, as his mother explained a month before. Cas signs a simple hi when Kevin lets go of his mom and rushes inside to find his seat.

And the rest of the kids rush in, but there’s one that stands out. Or more like his dad does. He’s in his late 20s or so he appears, and his beard has Cas weak on his knees; he’s wearing black joggers, a tight grey t-shirt, and white sneakers and oh he looks so good.

“Hello!” the kid’s hand goes up, his face bright with a big smile. Oh, he can tell he’ll like this kid already. He has a polite conversation with his father and, after shaking Dean’s —as he recently learned— hand, he waits for the rest of the kids to come.

Once they’re all there, he closes the door and smiles at the children. Most of them are in their corners, and some of them are already talking to each other, even Jack tries to talk to Kevin but gives up mid-sentence.

“Good morning, kids. I am Mr. Novak, can you say ‘hi, Mr. Novak’?” the kids repeat his name in an uneven chorus, excited. “We’ll be together all year; does that sound good?” they nod. “Well, let’s start with something easy: do you know your names?” they nod more enthusiastically this time, and so presentations begin.

As they stop on Kevin, he looks up, nervous. Jack gently taps his shoulder and begins signing. Signing, _a kid signing?_ Kevin takes a couple of seconds before nodding and signing his name to the other kid.

“His name is Kevin!” Jack announces after making a confused face. Cas raises a brow, _what in hell?_ but nods and smiles at Kevin and Jack before encouraging the rest of the kids to repeat his name.

The rest of the day goes smoothly, with the kids answering some of his questions —though Jack was pretty much the only one who did, since he also answered for Kevin—, no accidents during their recess, no kids crying. By the time the bell rings, Cas finds himself kind of disappointed of this, knowing he’ll have to go back to his house alone, most likely by bus, and enjoy his lonely afternoon until Meg comes back at nine PM only to have dinner and go to sleep.

“Do you like burgers, Mr. Novak?” Jack asks as he calmly puts his crayons inside his pencil box. It’s fully organized, and Cas just stares at it in wonder. How the hell is this kid so organized? He’s a kid, for fuck’s sake.

“Ah, yes, Jack. They’re my favorite food.” That’s a lie, pizza is his favorite. For a second, it seems like Jack knows this too, his shiny blue eyes staring at him, his head tilting slightly before he nods and closes the box.

“They’re my favorite too!” he replies, his little eyes shining in excitement. Cas smiles at him and opens the door as he indicates the kids to form a single line so they can get out one by one.

He asks them if they can see their parents and, once they say yes, he lets them go while wishing them a good day. Quickly, all of them are out, except for Jack, who now has his tiny hands laced together, his face a pure expression of calm that Cas has never seen. The kid is intriguing, completely, and he wants to know how and why he learned everything he knows.

He smiles at Cas and turns around to look for his father. Once he finds him, he gasps in joy and runs towards him. Dean crouches down and opens his arm, and Cas’s heart jumps at this action. The man walks towards him, and Cas can feel his hands sweating; he’s supposed to go the other way, outside, not inside.

Dean offers a hand and Cas shakes it again. “Thank you for taking care of him.” His beard looks even better now that he’s closer, how is that even possible?

“Look what I won, daddy!” the kid points at the golden star Cas gave him after he was the first to write down his first name.

“Really? That’s amazing!” Dean looks at his son, and the pride that shows on his face is incomparable. Cas waves a hand and smiles at them.

“He’s a very smart child, he helped one of his classmates with her homework and answered correctly the questions I asked him.” It was really nothing out of this world, just the basic ‘name this number’ and ‘spell a classmate’s name’, but he could see how proud Jack was of it.

“And I can sign!” the kid signs, and Cas wonders yet again how he learned this. His father raises a brow, his eyes filling with tears, and turns to him, a questioning look on his face that makes Cas feel obligated to explain.

“We have a child with selective mutism, his name is Kevin. He’s really smart, too, and Jack helped him all day long.” He remembers Kevin’s face when Jack began signing, whenever Jack would look at Kevin in concern, and how he stuck with him through the whole recess, not letting any of the older bullies bother him. Jack is a brave kid, and Cas can’t wait to see what else he has in store.

“Daddy!” Dean’s attention goes back to his son. “Can we bring Mr. Novak to eat burgers with us!?” he can see Dean’s face drain of color, and that almost has Cas chuckling. Oh, how are kids so untimely. The man smiles awkwardly at Cas.

“Well, Mr. Novak? Would you join us for lunch?” he asks. Cas opens and closes his mouth like a fish.

He thinks back at his miserable plans, what could go wrong?

“If your father is okay with that, I could join you.” Jack instantly turns to Dean, who nods and closes his eyes tightly when the kid lets out a high-pitched squeal and wraps his arms around his neck. “Then, allow me to get my things and sign off.” Dean nods and puts Jack down. He offers his son his hand and then looks back at Cas, his green eyes focusing entirely on him.

“We’ll wait for you at the entrance, then. Do you need any help?” he asks. Cas shakes his head instantly.

“Oh, no, no, thank you.” He turns around and hits his hip with the wall, then he pretends nothing happened while hearing a soft chuckle from Dean.

_Get it together, Novak._ He grabs his sweater, his bag, and the few drawings some kids have already given him —which will obviously go with him but it will stay inside a drawer because, as much as he loves his kids, they’re not the greatest artists, but they made it with love so they won’t go to the trash can—. He checks everything before closing the door and heading to the principal’s office, where he finds Balthazar yet again, and another woman.

“Castiel, this is Donna,” he points at the blonde woman, who is wearing a blue pantsuit and a white blazer.

“Hi! What year?” she asks, excited, as she passes the pen to him.

“First grade. You?” he signs his name and the time.

“Third. They make me crazy, but they’re better than sixth grade.” They all laugh.

“I have to go, but it was nice meeting you too. See you tomorrow.” He nods and turns around. It’s not that he doesn’t want to make new friends, it’s just that he doesn’t want to keep Dean and Jack waiting; and, okay, _maybe_ he’s avoiding with workmates, but his reasons are good —that is, if he can find any.

He grabs his things and opens the door to get out of there, mainly because he just doesn’t want to think about staying there for another minute without having something to do, and makes his way to the entrance. There, principal Mills nods at him and smiles. Cas waves his hand at her and squints his eyes under the bright sun, trying to find Dean and Jack. When he does, he jogs next to them at the corner of the street, where they wait for the light to go red so they can cross the street.

“…And then he said he liked my backpack!” narrates Jack, pointing at the item. Dean smiles fondly at this and offers his hand to his son so they can cross.

“He did? Does he like dinosaurs?” Cas knows what they’re talking about: another kid, Ben, came closer to both him and Kevin during recess, and the three of them instantly became friends, since Peter didn’t push Kevin into talking like the rest of the kids did. They walk towards a black Impala and Cas marvels at how well taken care of it is, because that’s something impressive, especially with a little kid.

“So, Mr. Novak…”

“Castiel, please. No need for formalities outside of work.” Dean nods and unlocks the doors. Jack hops inside the car and seats behind the driver’s seat, waiting for Dean to fasten his belt while humming softly what sounded like an old classic rock song.

“So, _Castiel_ …” his name rolls off his tongue easily, almost with practiced ease; “there’s this place owned by one of my best friends, they serve the most amazing burgers you’ll ever try, _and_ they have a kid’s area.”

“I look forward to it.” Dean smiles at him before jogging to the other side of the car as Cas gets inside of it. When Dean turns the engine on, _Babe_ by Styx floods the place, and Jack lets out a happy laugh, yelling the words as best as he can, his tiny hands clapping. Cas raises an eyebrow but says nothing else.

Dean turns down the volume a little bit and begins driving. They make small talk with Jack singing in the backseat, which has Dean grinning the whole way. They talk about how difficult it is to live in New York, about how Cas became a teacher, and how Dean has to manage acting and raising Jack all on his own.

“So that’s how I know your face!” Cas lets out a giggle, an actual giggle, after cracking his head the whole day thinking just _where the hell have I seen those eyes._ “I saw you last Friday on TV, Good Morning America? You make an amazing Frankie Valli, by the way.” Dean’s lips quiver, but they don’t give out anymore; still, Cas is pretty satisfied by this.

“Yeah, thanks… I’m still new, you know? In this show, just a week, and I have to go to rehearsal almost every morning because Chuck Shurley is stepping down as Tommy and Mick Davies is taking his place…”

“Wait, _the_ Mick Davies?” Cas asks, his head whipping to his side so fast he’s surprised he didn’t pull a nerve. “That man is a legend.”

“The way he sings… I honestly thought they were taking me away from the lead.” Dean laughs, relieved, and Cas finds himself laughing along with him more easily than he ever thought he would. “I’m kinda sad they didn’t, though, Tommy is my favorite.” Cas gasps.

“Jail, you need jail.” The words leave his mouth before he can stop them, but Cas soon finds his ears filled with Dean’s laugh. So, instead of apologizing, his mouth opens again and he spits more words. “We all know Bob was the best.” Dean shakes his head, an easy smile on his lips.

“Everyone keeps hating on Tommy, man. My best friend does the same.” He kills the engine, having arrived at the _Roadhouse_.

“Sorry for that, my best friend and I have a daily discussion on which The Four Seasons’ man was the best.” Dean chuckles and takes out the keys.

“Will I see aunty Jo?” Jack asks from the backseat, already trying to scramble to his feet. As Cas gets out of the car, Dean unfastens Jack’s seatbelt and gets him out.

“I don’t think she works today, kiddo.” Jack makes a pout but leaves it instantly when he starts asking if he can have a big burger. Dean laughs while telling him that _no, last time you ate just half of it_ , and they enter.

The place is big, painted in simple beige and grey, colorful frames with pictures hanging from the otherwise nude walls, and the booths are of a colorful combination of red and green. It looks… old and yet modern, like one of those themed cafés Meg forced him to go to while she was with Bela. Oh, how he hoped for Charlie to change his best friend’s ways.

“What do you want to order?” Dean asks.

“Huh, I don’t know, I’ve never been here,” Cas responds, his eyes still scanning the place. There’s an old jukebox at the back of the local.

“May I order for you?” after Cas nods, Dean turns to his son; “why don’t you take Castiel over to your favorite place, huh? I’ll be there in no time.” He points finger guns at Jack, who points them back and grabs Castiel’s hand, pretty much dragging him towards one of the three booths that are located inside the child’s area.

Dean comes back a few minutes later, a tray with their orders between his hands, and Jack —finally— stops bouncing on his seat.

As they begin to eat, Cas has to bite his tongue to choke the sinful moan that wanted to leave his throat, the burger being the best he’s had ever since his trip to Ohio to visit his brother Gabe two years back. It’s juicy, fatty, and full of cheese, the bun almost sweet and the special mayonnaise complement it; sure, there are onion and lettuce —no tomato, Dean remembered he hates tomato and Cas doesn’t know how to feel about this—, but they don’t star there. Meg is gonna kill him for breaking his diet and for doing it without her.

“Oh, this is great.” He announces once he’s swallowed everything. Dean grins behind his burger and takes a sip of his drink.

“Told ya.” His grin turns into a smirk that disappears when he bites his food.

They talk even more, and Cas learns that Jack began signing when he was eleven months after watching Eileen —who he also learned is Sam’s, his brother, fiancée— do it every time she talked. Dean encouraged Jack to keep on signing and now he was almost dominant on it, Dean getting better at it in the process.

Then he learns how Dean landed his role on _Jersey Boys:_ after singing a cover of _Can’t Take My Eyes Off You_ at a Broadway charity gala, Amara Shurley, one of the most recognized faces in the casting industry, came to him and asked if he was interested in joining an ongoing Broadway musical after his Off-Broadway one closed. Ever since then, two months prior, they became good friends.

Cas’s story isn’t as exciting as his: he watched his twin brother, Jimmy, slowly fall apart thanks to constant bullying coming from _teachers_ and classmates, eventually leading to him turning into drugs. It was sad, but now, years after that, he had a wife, Amelia, and his older brother, Gabe, helped him whenever he could. After that, Cas decided he would be a teacher and that he would help those who needed it, unlike the shitty professors that he witnessed.

Of course, Cas redacted it to a simple _my brother got bullied and the teachers did nothing to stop it, so I decided to become a better one._

And after that, Jack falls asleep on Dean’s lap, his energy drained, and they make their way back to the Impala. Dean carefully places Jack on the backseat before making his way back to the driver seat and ask Cas for directions.

“I never asked if you have a car, I just took you in mine, God, I’m so sorry.” He scratches his neck, nervous, and Cas has the urge to laugh at how adorable that is.

“Oh, no, it actually broke down this morning, my roommate drove me to school, it’s okay.” Dean begins driving and turns on the radio at a soft volume. “Thanks for worrying, anyway.” Cas smiles.

It’s almost twenty minutes in which they only talk about how intelligent Jack is, and how he could skip a whole year because of it.

“Sam taught him how to read when he was three, I was worried he would never talk if we kept on delaying it.” Cas nods, understandingly, and takes a peek at the kid, whose head rests against the door, his mouth open, and the tiniest of snores coming out of his throat.

“It’s here.” He points at the grey house, putting the strap of his bag on his shoulder. “Thank you, Dean, for this afternoon.” Dean smiles.

“Thank you for being a great man, Cas.” Cas gets out and waves his hand at Dean, who waves back and begins driving away.

That’s when two things hit Cas: Dean just called him _Cas_ without him having to tell him he preferred that name over his full one, and that Dean never mentioned Jack’s mother, not even _once._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I'm FINALLY off school, I am planning on posting here more regularly. Let's say, once a week? That'll do. Although, since right now I'm sick with miss rona (I'm okay, don't worry) I might update another time this week.


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